"What we are looking at is step by step, filling in the bits between here and Onepoto. It is achievable but we'll just do it a bit at a time."
He said the road was a barrier to tourism because of its shingle nature and some car rental companies would not offer insurance for it, forbidding travel.
It was also hard on locals.
"Shingle is hard to keep in good condition - you will always get potholes and corrugation," he said.
"A big thing is looking after local people. Their cars are absolutely wrecked by the road."
His wife operates a bed and breakfast from their farm on a sealed part of the road.
"You would be amazed at the people who go up there and say, bugger this, and turn around. If you are not used to shingle it is like driving on marbles.
"If we want to look after our tourists then we need seal."
He said the council, which owns roading company QRS, could seal a large part of the highway from the maintenance contract budget it had for the road, but was not allowed to due to safety and road-design considerations.
He said initially it was very frustrating "with Land Transport giving every reason why we couldn't do it, but now we are in a good space".
Land Transport was preparing a business case for sealing the road "so watch this space".
Iwi are also working lobbying Government to seal the road along with Whakatane District Council.
Tuhoe Te Uru Taumatua chairman Tamati Kruger said the iwi was committed to improving infrastructure that provided opportunities for Te Urerewa communities.
Whakatane mayor Tony Bonne said it "wholeheartedly" supported sealing the road "to deliver surety of access, growth and sustainable development for Te Urewera communities and contribute to the realisation of Tuhoe aspirations".